Here is a clock with a movement I had never seen – it is a miniature Gilbert round top mantel clock in a red case with Asian motif. It has a cute little time and strike movement with rack and snail strike, and the mainsprings in barrels. The case is only 8 1/2 inches tall and 6 7/16 inches wide. The minute hand is 1 15/16 inches long, and the pendulum bob is 33 millimeters diameter and weighs 2.0 ounces. The dial is engraved brass.

Front view.

Front of movement after repair.

Showing the gears after the movement has been repaired and is ready for assembly. The strike hammer arbor is in place.

I haven’t found this clock or its movement in any catalog. Tran Duy Ly’s book “Gilbert Clocks”, published in 1998, shows three similar but slightly taller clocks with enamel dials (the Davenport, Canterbury and Kendal on page 189). The book says these three clocks date ca. 1913.

Tran Duy Ly’s “Gilbert Clocks Supplement” published in 2000, shows a similar movement that has open mainsprings but appears the sale otherwise. It is “Movement No. 10” on page 34, selling for $3.25, and states 1910 for the date.

Repair job 6591. I polished the pivots and installed 15 bushings, re-staked gear T3 on its hub, and installed new pins in pinion T2.

The mainsprings are only 1/2 inch wide and are thin. The time mainspring is 0.0135 inch thick, and the strike spring is only 0.0088 inch thick. This movement is delicate for a Connecticut-made mass produced movement and runs very well.

Comments (2)

Recoil escapement. There are no signs of silver plating front or back of the dial. And I worked on a similar one with the same dial. It will be posted on my blog tomorrow. They could have been silvered originally (they look strange not silvered), if so, someone did a nice job of removing the silver.

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